114-0342/01 – The Economics of Public Choice (EVV)

- Providing a basic overview of the problems of public choice theory - Students will be able to economically analyze voting behavior, the behavior of elected representatives, interest groups, and bureaucracies - Students will acquire the knowledge to analyze political and other collective institutions in a basic way and will be competent to evaluate the appropriate settings for these institutions - Students will acquire basic and key knowledge of economic policy making in representative democracies, taking into account the rational actor model - Students will be able to describe and identify the inferior effects of inappropriately implemented economic policies

The course is aimed at providing a basic overview of the problems of public choice theory. The course includes an analysis of voting behavior, the behavior of elected representatives, interest groups, and bureaucracy. The course uses a rational choice model and the actors in political markets are are understood as traditional "buyers" or "sellers", thus the course favours an economic way of thinking about political markets. The economic way of thinking about political markets and collective action allows us to analyse political and other collective institutions and also to assess the appropriateness of the settings of these institutions. The course thus partly covers the field of constitutional and institutional economics. The course also provides basic and key insights into economic policymaking in representative democracies, taking into account the rational actor model. Thus, it also deals with the inferior effects of implemented economic policies. Graduates of the course should be able to apply economic reasoning in a non-market environment and in a political markets at an intermediate level.

PERSSON, Torsten a Guido TABELLINI. 2000. Political Economics: Explaining Economic Policy. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2000. ISBN 0-262-16195-8.

Written exam Students with an approved Individual Study Plan (ISP) can choose between two options. They can proceed as above, i.e. attend seminars and present an essay. Alternatively, they can submit the essay in writing at the end of the semester. Students with an ISP must choose this form of continuous assessment at the beginning of the semester.